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Yaris 2013 - Battery Flat When Unused For 8 Days - Is This Normal?


Yarry
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My father has a 2013 Yaris T-Spirit Automatic which includes the keyless entry system. A while ago he went away for a couple weeks and on his return the car was dead - the Battery was flat. Again, this week he was away and I tried to drive the car after it had been standing for just 8 days and the car is completely dead. Is this normal please?

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Moved to the Yaris club

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Has the interior light been left on - what position is the interior light switch in (door, off or on)?

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Thanks, Sadly, I'd explored these options - the courtesy light was set to off and not even to come on when the door is opened.

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No its not normal.

If you have checked that all was switched off then I would go to a good garage and have the Battery load tested. They can soon tell if Battery ok or not.

If it is a dodgy Battery it will not get better, and as the weather goes colder this will pick out any weaknesses especially with a battery.

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As the Yaris is a 2013 model, and still within its five year warranty, I would use your Toyota dealer to check the Battery, etc.

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Good point Frosty, I didnt pick up on the fact the car is 2013 - so yes, possible warranty claim.

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Many thanks - this is as much a sanity check as anything. The dealer seems to think this is normal for a modern car which is full of technology which drains the Battery. I also have an Audi A1 which is full of electronics but it started first time after I was away for over two weeks.

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We run two cars, and one of them gets left in its garage twice a year for around 14-16 days each time, when we go on holiday. Our cars get changed on average every three years for new ones, and the only time we have had an issue with a flat Battery was when my partner left the interior light on in her Honda.

I would still go back to the dealer.

The smart entry system or similar may be draining the Battery, in which case a trickle charger may be worth considering.

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Many thanks - this is as much a sanity check as anything. The dealer seems to think this is normal for a modern car which is full of technology which drains the battery. I also have an Audi A1 which is full of electronics but it started first time after I was away for over two weeks.

It's ridiculous to suggest it's normal for a car Battery to be flat after a week. Sounds to me like they know there's a problem and are trying to make you go away till the warranty runs out. Having said that, keyless entry does put an extra drain on the Battery. If I were leaving the car for more than a few days, I'd be inclined to turn it off.

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How do you turn off the keyless entry off.

I ask cause my T-Spirit is keyless entry.

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how many miles is he doing per day? ie lots of small trips depleting the Battery then leaving it for a while with the alarm will drain the Battery rapidly

Alex

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This is a bit of a long shot but there was a thread by HSD owners whos' batteries were dying ridiculously quickly too and one of the possible reasons Toyota gave was that the keyless entry fob was being stored too close to the car and keeping the system on.

If, like many, you store your keys near the front door and you park in front of the house, might be worth trying a little experiment and putting it at the back of the house and seeing if that makes any difference.

The only other time I've heard of this in a Yaris was due to a faulty boot light switch, which was causing the boot light to stay on all the time instead of turning off when the boot lid was closed, but this was only in earlier versions.

Me and my brother's Mk1 Yaris D4D's still both have the original batteries and are over 10 years old; My brother's one was left unused for almost a month and still started first time, so I wouldn't accept any guff about it being normal for a Battery to die after such a short period of time.

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Thanks everyone for the ideas and sanity check. A breakdown unit came to restart the Yaris today and the mechanic said that this kind of occurrence was increasingly common with newish cars that aren't used for several days. He claimed to have just come from fixing a new Jag that had been left standing for 10 days and wouldn't start. However, I agree with the general sentiment on this page that it's ridiculous for a newish car not to start just because it hasn't been used for a few days. We're going to see the dealer next week to discuss things with him and to test the car. I'll update on how things go. Thanks again for all the input so far - really appreciated. Yarry

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If it proves to be the "norm" for your car Battery to run down within 8 days a trickle charger may be the answer, and I know there are those which are cordless ie solar powered. How effective these are I dont know as I have no personal experience. Worth a thought, or comment from someone with experience of them.

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Is the car kept in the garage? CTEK make a very good trickle charger

Alex

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It isn't kept in the garage these days as we live on a newish estate where even the smallest car is a trial to get into the garage because the garages are built so small. Thanks for your advice about the CTEK charger though.

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We have a 2012 Honda Jazz which is often left unused for a week. Even in winter,there are no Battery problems.

Does it have a boot light? Often the catch for these sticks in the ON position.

Try folding the seats down, closing the boot and see if it still is on.

Otherwise, it's the job for an Autoelectrician...unless you read the fuse box labels, and assume you have a parasitic current drain somewhere. Try disconnecting the obvious candidates one at a time.. and leave unfused for a week.

I would suggest: bluetooth, Satnav, heated windows/mirrors in that order.

A good autoelectrician should be able to read the standing current drain and isolate the culprit in a couple of hours. Note: "good" usually means expensive as they are few and far between.

But it's under warranty so I suggest you tell Toyota sealer - in writing - it's unacceptable and it's under warranty.

If no joy, write to Toyota HO..

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To draw a comparison my last car was a nearly new Mercedes SL500, the one with the fancy metal folding roof. It had 2 batteries, one big and one smallish. I assumed the big one was to crank over the 5 litre V8 and the little one was for all the on board computers, nope i was wrong and it was the other way and the big one was to keep all the computers working and having the 2nd smaller Battery meant the car would always start as the 2 were not connected. Anyway where i am heading with this every say 10-14 days if i didn't use the car it would start ok but the big Battery would be as good as flat as a warning symbol came up on the dashboard. I was fortunate as i has access to 240v electricity and like someone on here has said Ctek do a very good range a chargers that can be left on 24/7. Of course this is not an option for you and i can only suggest buying a solar panel Battery charger, the biggest one you can afford, say around paying about £60 if possible so you get enough power from it to keep your battery charged. I also know a guy who had a nice 911 Porsche, he used to have flat battery problems as his car got left in airport car parks for 7-14 days at a time and the solar panel answer worked for him as it always started after being parked up for many days. Many cars today are very complicated and draw too much power to keep the electrics alive, no i don't think it's right you should have to put power back into the battery but i think it may be your only option as long as your Toyota dealer says there is nothing wrong with the car or battery. Car manufacturers seem to be fitting the smallest batteries they can get away with just to save weight to get the max mpg possible but this is no use to people who don't use their cars daily and for a half decent run each time.

Mike.

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I left my 2014 Aygo unused from Monday to Saturday this year and that was fine. Just because a car is full of technology doesn't mean it'll drain the Battery if its all turned off!

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There is almost 100 solar powered units on eBay ranging from £10 to £60, some claiming they work in cloudy conditions too, and plug into the cig lighter.

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Mike, many thanks for this information. Yes, the solar option seems well worth exploring. Rgds Paul

To draw a comparison my last car was a nearly new Mercedes SL500, the one with the fancy metal folding roof. It had 2 batteries, one big and one smallish. I assumed the big one was to crank over the 5 litre V8 and the little one was for all the on board computers, nope i was wrong and it was the other way and the big one was to keep all the computers working and having the 2nd smaller battery meant the car would always start as the 2 were not connected. Anyway where i am heading with this every say 10-14 days if i didn't use the car it would start ok but the big battery would be as good as flat as a warning symbol came up on the dashboard. I was fortunate as i has access to 240v electricity and like someone on here has said Ctek do a very good range a chargers that can be left on 24/7. Of course this is not an option for you and i can only suggest buying a solar panel battery charger, the biggest one you can afford, say around paying about £60 if possible so you get enough power from it to keep your battery charged. I also know a guy who had a nice 911 Porsche, he used to have flat battery problems as his car got left in airport car parks for 7-14 days at a time and the solar panel answer worked for him as it always started after being parked up for many days. Many cars today are very complicated and draw too much power to keep the electrics alive, no i don't think it's right you should have to put power back into the battery but i think it may be your only option as long as your Toyota dealer says there is nothing wrong with the car or battery. Car manufacturers seem to be fitting the smallest batteries they can get away with just to save weight to get the max mpg possible but this is no use to people who don't use their cars daily and for a half decent run each time.

Mike.

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Thanks Catlover. I searched on solar charger and find the AA have their charger on offer so based on this and Mike's advice will try it. Regards Paul

There is almost 100 solar powered units on Ebay ranging from £10 to £60, some claiming they work in cloudy conditions too, and plug into the cig lighter.

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My dealer warned me that I should be cautious about making sure the car was really off, not just stopped! He implied that I could leave the car and lock it but it still be "on"

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Thanks Catlover. I searched on solar charger and find the AA have their charger on offer so based on this and Mike's advice will try it. Regards Paul

There is almost 100 solar powered units on Ebay ranging from £10 to £60, some claiming they work in cloudy conditions too, and plug into the cig lighter.

Thanks Catlover. I searched on solar charger and find the AA have their charger on offer so based on this and Mike's advice will try it. Regards Paul

There is almost 100 solar powered units on Ebay ranging from £10 to £60, some claiming they work in cloudy conditions too, and plug into the cig lighter.

Hi Yarry

All solar panels will work in cloudy conditions and most have cig. lighter connections BUT what you will have to check first is if your cig. lighter works with the ign. off, i.e. has the socket got a constant feed or do you need the aux. or ign. on via the ign key or keyless system whatever you have. If your ign. lighter is alive all the time you can go can plug into here as remember when you plug in all the electrics will be technically be turned off, although some never go off hence why your Battery flattens. If your cig. socket is only alive when the aux. or ign. is on then you cannot plug into here as it will only charge when you are in the car...BESIDES ..the amount of current going through a cheap cig. lighter plug of the solar panel is not a good idea as it is a fire risk and it would be much safer to put your connections directly onto the Battery using ring type terminals the sort you have to undo just the nut of the Battery clamp just to fit it and then look for one with a plug in fitting so you can leave the ring terminals on the battery and just undo the push together fitting each time...crocodile clips will do it but ring terminals are better but plugging in through the cig. lighter could easily be a fire risk.

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-wiper-blades-batteries/car-battery-chargers/solar-battery-maintainer-12v-6w

Something like this could be what you need and you can always swop the cig. lighter plug for ring terminals at a later date if you find the ign. socket is on alive when you are in the car rendering the plug part no good for you apart from the current passing through it i mentioned earlier.......incidentally the centre pin of the cig. plug is the positive one. Work safely!

Mike.

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